James Investment Research Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

James Investment Research Inc. reduced its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.5% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 18,516 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 91 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up 1.6% of James Investment Research Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest position. James Investment Research Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $13,666,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in META. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 608,429.2% during the 2nd quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 59,775,823 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $44,119,937,000 after acquiring an additional 59,766,000 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.3% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 17,669,795 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $10,184,163,000 after purchasing an additional 400,927 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 8.8% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 15,575,962 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $8,977,361,000 after purchasing an additional 1,255,546 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.5% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 12,543,468 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $7,229,553,000 after purchasing an additional 536,160 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.5% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,041,171 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,787,329,000 after purchasing an additional 247,850 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $621.71 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.56 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $479.80 and a 12-month high of $796.25. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $726.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $702.51.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.51. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.35% and a net margin of 30.89%.The company had revenue of $51.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $49.34 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $6.03 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Meta Platforms has set its Q4 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 22nd were given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 22nd. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 9.28%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on META. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $920.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $880.00 to $840.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $950.00 to $910.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Pivotal Research raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $930.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $915.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have issued a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $827.60.

Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $787.06, for a total value of $12,472,539.82. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,612 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $782.13, for a total transaction of $2,042,923.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 7,609 shares in the company, valued at $5,951,227.17. This represents a 25.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 75,798 shares of company stock worth $58,347,026 over the last 90 days. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Company Profile

Meta Platforms, Inc engages in the development of products that enable people to connect and share with friends and family through mobile devices, personal computers, virtual reality headsets, and wearables worldwide. It operates in two segments, Family of Apps and Reality Labs. The Family of Apps segment offers Facebook, which enables people to share, discuss, discover, and connect with interests; Instagram, a community for sharing photos, videos, and private messages, as well as feed, stories, reels, video, live, and shops; Messenger, a messaging application for people to connect with friends, family, communities, and businesses across platforms and devices through text, audio, and video calls; and WhatsApp, a messaging application that is used by people and businesses to communicate and transact privately.